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[MrFlibble]

Here are some nice classic shareware titles:

The Catacomb Abyss (Shareware)
The first shareware episode of the Catacomb Fantasy Trilogy is a full game in itself. With a medieval fantasy setting and nice EGA graphics, The Catacomb Abyss is a spiritual precursor to Heretic and Hexen. It has most of the basic elements of a FPS game, plus a few unique features like destructible power-ups (watch where you fire) and an artifact that freezes time for a brief period.

Wolfenstein 3D (Shareware Episode)
A classic that needs no further introduction, Wolfenstein 3D is one of the defining milestones of the genre. Developed by id Software, it was also distributed by Apogee (now 3D Realms). The first episode of the full game (9 regular levels plus 1 secret level) is distributed as shareware.

Doom (Shareware Episode)
Following the shareware model, the first episode of the full game, consisting of 8 regular and 1 secret level, was released for free.

Blake Stone:Aliens of Gold (Shareware Episode)
Using an improved Wolf3D engine, Blake Stone is a futuristic James Bond-style shooter. With added floor and ceiling textures, rudimentary dynamic lighting and a mini-map, it was still technologically inferior to Doom, which came out a year earlier. Nevertheless, Blake Stone has some interesting elements, like ceiling-mounted turrets, self-destructive drones that charge at the player, enemies that lie on the floor waiting to ambush the player, or pods that spawn monsters (all these elements found in later games like Duke Nukem 3D) among other things. In addition, the game has literally lots of secret areas. The shareware episode has 9 regular and 2 secret levels.

Heretic (Shareware Episode)
A medieval fantasy shooter that uses a slightly improved Doom engine. Some people consider it more entertaining than Doom, while others regard it as nothing more than a simple mod. Like Doom, the episode consists of 8 regular and 1 secret level.

Rise of the Triad: The HUNT Begins (Shareware)
Rise of the Triad uses an upgraded version of the Wolf3D engine, allowing for height differences, open-area levels and other improvements; walls are still limited to 90-degree angles thought. Even being less advanced than Doom in certain aspects, Rise of the Triad offers an interesting, challenging game play in both single- and multiplayer modes. There is a great variety of weapons and power-ups (as well as power-downs), and most enemy types are characterized by some unique features (for example, one guard type is capable of running towards the player and stealing their weapon, while another will lie on the floor silently, waiting to ambush the player); some enemy types are picked randomly every time a level is started, adding variety to the game. Enemy sprites are actually digitized images of live actors (mostly dev team members), as opposed to drawn characters or digitized models that were used in other FPS games of the time. The developers (lead by Tom Hall, by the way) approached their task with a sense of humour, and the game is full of various jokes and funny moments. Another definite plus of the game is an excellent soundtrack composed by the renowned lee Jackson (with some bits by Bob Prince thrown in). Unlike many other shareware titles, The HUNT begins is, in fact, not the first episode of the full game (which is called Rise of the Triad: Dark War), but a unique episode that chronologically precedes the story in the full game. There are 7 regular levels, one secret level, and two "warp-only" levels that must be accessed through cheat codes.

Duke Nukem 3D (Shareware Episode)
The third instalment of the Duke Nukem series used the Build 2.5D engine, developed by Ken Silverman. The engine has several advantages over the Doom engine, like sloped surfaces, the ability to dive underwater and generally a more successful emulation of the "room-over-room" architectural elements that were not fully available until true 3D engines were developed. Duke Nukem 3D took a more realistic approach to level design, creating recognizable environments like city streets, hotels, movie theaters, supermarkets etc. The first episode of the full game consists of 5 regular levels, plus one secret level.

Shadow Warrior (Shareware Episode)
Shadow Warrior was an attempt to repeat Duke Nukem 3D's success, with a somewhat improved Build engine (now featuring transparent water, voxel 3D objects, different firing modes for most weapons) and an Asian theme. However, the game could not rival the popularity of Quake, which was in true 3D, and the main character turned out to be much less impressive than Duke. The shareware episode has 4 large levels.

Blood (Shareware Episode)
Yet another game to use the upgraded Build engine with voxel support. The shareware episode has 7 regular levels and one secret level.

Powerslave (Demo)
An Egyptian-themed Doom-like shooter using an early version of the Build engine. The demo version, consisting of 4 levels plus a tutorial level, is not exactly a shareware episode, but it covers what can be called the first "chapter" of the full game. There is no boss battle per se in the final level, but the entire level is a huge puzzle that makes for the absence of a real boss.

Quake (Shareware Episode)
The first true 3D shooter from id Software. The shareware episode consists of 7 regular levels, one secret level and an intro/episode/level selection "hub" level.

Descent (Shareware)
A true-3D environment flyer/shooter game with 360 degrees of freedom. The player flies a small fighter craft in the mines that have been built on various planets, and fights robots controlled by rampant AI.

Radix: Beyond the Void (Shareware Episode)
Often compared to Descent, this game also features flying a small fighter as opposed to walking on foot. However, the 2.5D engine makes it more similar in appearance to Doom, Duke Nukem 3D or Eradicator. The shareware episode has 9 levels.

[RRS]

...and honestly, people: finish all those shareware episodes first before whining "wh3re c@n 1 g3t fu|| v3rsi0n plz?" next time. Plenty of gameplay time, I say.

[MrFlibble]

Originally Posted by RRS

...and honestly, people: finish all those shareware episodes first before whining "wh3re c@n 1 g3t fu|| v3rsi0n plz?" next time. Plenty of gameplay time, I say.

Well spoken. In fact, if you take shareware versions and some of the demos that have short "campaigns" or level sequences that form a consistent storyline, you can get a nice game library that is both free and completely legal.

[The one who flew]

In some cases the shareware episode can also be the best part of the game. This has become apparent to me watching some dude play Rise of the triad on the net. The later maps become boring wheras the developers have packed pretty much all of the game's tricks and features into the shareware in order to get people to buy the full game.

[MrFlibble]

Another interesting old shooter I've learned recently about is In Pursuit of Greed. It has five different playable characters, lots of powerups and some nice visuals (for a Doom lookalike of that era, that is). You can get the demo here.

Also noteworthy is Eradicator, which has an engine comparable to Duke Nukem 3D, smooth controls, a nice futuristic setting, clever level design, and three playable characters. Get the three-level demo here.

[MrFlibble]

There's a whole load of 2.5D FPS games made using the Pie in the Sky engine (also known as 3D Game Creation System). They're of varying quality, but the engine was rather popular with some people until late-nineties, presumably because of the ability to create a game yourself.

Original games by Pie in the Sky Software:
Corncob 3-D: The Other Worlds Campaign (1992)
Lethal Tender (1993)

Titles by Acord Games:
Zoom (1994)
Cavemaze 3D (1995)
Lost in Zaperstein (1995)
Wicked Dream (1995)

The Colosso Adventures series:
Episode 1 Shareware v1.4
Episode 2 Shareware v1.2
Episode 3 Shareware v1.0

Other games:
La Cosa Nostra (1994)
Red Babe (1994)
Castaway: The Ordeal Begins (1995)
Deer Napped (1995)
Space Station Escape (1995)
Terror in Christmas Town (1995)
Troubled Tower (1995)
Escape POW (1996)
Gaia (1996)
Master Won Liu 3D (1996)
Ultimate (1996)
Zone Force (1996)
CHUB GAM 3-D (1997)
Revenge of Dr. Chang 3D (1997)
Chub Gam 3-D: Director's Cut (1998)
Pencil Whipped (2000)

[Edit] Even more games are listed here (DOS) and here (Win9x)

[MrFlibble]

I've been notified of yet another Pie in the Sky game called Max Resistance. It is claimed to be official (i.e. created by Pie in the Sky Software), but I'm not sure.

[MrFlibble]

Originally Posted by MrFlibble

I've been notified of yet another Pie in the Sky game called Max Resistance. It is claimed to be official (i.e. created by Pie in the Sky Software), but I'm not sure.

Yep, it's official:

To demonstrate what can be done by one person working alone with the Game Creation System, we let one individual create this game entirely with the GCS editor. Using artwork and 3D models from the GCS Professional Edition, this was put together in just a few weeks.

While Max Resistance is not in the same league as famous 3D games with million-dollar budgets and teams of professionals, it certain was great fun for the game designer to build, and very satsifying to have a game that will be played by hundreds of thousands of people.

Max Resistance is a short game put together in a few short weeks. As you play it, consider that a GCS owner with more time to devote could make a much superior game in just about every way. Max Resistance shows both outdoor and indoor areas, and has combat and simple puzzles. However, it barely scratches the surface of what can be done.

http://web.archive.org/web/200302060...odownload.html

Thanks to Dgemie for telling me about that archived page

[MrFlibble]

Found the shareware version of yet another GCS game, Secret Agent: The Escape:
http://cd.textfiles.com/10tons/FILES/GAMEAR3D/SAM.ZIP

[Scatty]

There is (was) also a very little known, a bit obscure German shooter named The Hidden Below (short THB). Lost in competition at the time against the much more popular Doom, though it was technically more advanced than the latter.
Also the full version of it doesn't seem to be found anywhere on the net, eventhough the game is long abandoned and forgotten.
Here are screenshots and downloadable demo version:
Link 1
Link 2